You are the General Contractor!
Reno Nevada Residential Design, Permits, Inspections
We started the process of building our home in St. James Village, Reno with dreams, ideas, and prayers. We verbalized by commenting on a picture, a house, or a thought that popped into our heads while watching real estate shows on TV. After a time, the comments jelled into ideas. For me, 6 years ago when we purchased the lot, it was an indistinct fuzzy probability. As we are fast approaching the end of a two- and half-year building project, my mind has finally grasped the fact that we have constructed a beautiful wonderful home!
In Nevada you can act as general contractor for the home you will occupy as your residence. Interestingly, you can also draw up landscape design plans for your own home. We hired a home designer for the house and he gave us a phenomenal design. In some cases you can use a designer instead of an architect. The designer works with the engineer to make sure aesthetics and structural design are in synch. I designed the landscape although we will not be installing until next spring. That was especially fun for me because I have a degree in landscape architecture from UC Davis, which has also been an asset to me as a REALTOR in Reno, Nevada.
From conception to move-in there were so many things to do, and so many emotions to feel. My next three posts will touch on three aspects of being an owner-builder in Reno Nevada: design and engineering, permitting, and inspections.
Designing and Engineering
Our lot is in the transition zone between forest and desert on the eastern Sierra Nevada slopes about 20 minutes north of North Lake Tahoe. The slope is generally 12-14% with the access road being on the lower portion and the house being built upslope. The view is to the south and east showcasing open forests, the Washoe Valley and the foothills beyond, accentuated with spectacular sunrises. Our Designer spent time at the lot before and during his design process to make sure that not only the design was unique and functional, but that it also took full advantage of nature’s beauty.
We have been owner-builders for awhile and so are already aware of how certain design elements can add time and costs to a build. The more simplistic the design the lower the overall time and costs including engineering plans. For example multiple roof lines, circular walls, and clear stories can add costs to the foundation, walls, trusses, floor joists, supporting beams and so on. Your architect and engineer should be able to advise you during the design process. We chose to have multiple roof lines, a clear story and also built on a slope. This contributed to the complexity of the home but we love the design.
Once the plans were approved by my husband and myself, the HOA Design Review Committee was paid a sum of money that covered costs of plan reviews and fines, all the way to final landscape installation. More on that treat in a later post.
The engineering calculations and drawings are very technical and detailed with lots of numbers, lines, dotted lines, dashed lines, light lines, bold lines, angles, circles, notes, and official stamps. Owner-builders are not typically engineering experts of course, so we did our due diligence to hire vetted, licensed, and experienced engineers that work in areas of heavy snow load and sloped lots. Then, the Washoe County professionals reviewed the design and the engineering drawings to check for code adherence.
If you decide to embark upon an owner-build home, be ready for new regulations regarding structural items, plumbing, electrical, septic, support walls, trusses, and every other aspect of the home. What was code two weeks ago may be obsolete now. If you are up to code at the time of building the home, changes made to codes while you are building may not apply. Then again, they might. A licensed General Contractor should know every new code as it is published. That is part of their job. As an owner-builder, it is up to you to make sure codes are adhered to. The specialized sub-contractors should keep up with their own trade codes. I am happy to say the subs we hired did just that. This is just a suggestion to keep informed and communicate with your subs, or you may be demolishing part of the work already finished.
Most people will say that building a home or remodeling a home is one of the most stressful things married couples can do. It has been stressful, but since we have always been in it together as fully committed partners, we have had an overall very positive experience dealing with the good and the bad. We worked hard to come to agreements while expressing our own independent preferences. As a couple I believe we grew closer as we continually found common ground when we at first disagreed. And in doing so, we have further opened our eyes to each others’ desires, hopes and needs. We have a beautiful home we built together. It’s a win win.
Owner-Builder Permitting Process and Responsibilities
This post is coming up!
Owner-Builder and Inspections
This post is arriving soon!